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A resident artist who draws patients undergoing treatment at a cancer care centre has described it as a "unique, intimate experience".

Simon Tolhurst, 55, is the portrait artist-in-residence for the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Charity.

He has spent most Thursdays since 2013 volunteering to create A4 drawings which he then prints and gives to them.

He said his aim was to make an exhibition out of the portraits.

His artwork is mostly black and white pencil drawings, in order to not take up too much space in the clinical environment.

The subjects are seated and usually by themselves, but often with a spouse or family members.

"I've met so many incredible people and been privileged to make portraits of people in that situation," he said.

"There's a roomful of people who are a little bit bored because they're having to stay in one chair whilst connected to an IV treatment to have their chemo and they're very receptive to having someone to chat to and maybe making a drawing."

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Mr Tolhurst added: "I never know who I'm going to draw when I go in there, who I'm going to meet, what they do and what could pop up in the conversation.

"I feel as though it's a little bit unique for that."

He said the project at University College Hospital in Euston has produced a myriad of "uplifting" and "moving" stories which had stayed with him, including a "bucket list" family portrait for a patient who was terminal.

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"I drew a gentleman, just before Christmas, where he was an inpatient, and I'd met him because he was donating a photograph to charity," Mr Tolhurst said.

"I went back each week to say hello and on the third week, he was out of bed, sitting in a chair, posing for a portrait for me whilst the members of staff came in to say, 'I heard you're going home tomorrow, I just wanted to come in and say hi,' and examples like that... they're really uplifting."

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He recalls one patient who was unable to have treatment because her blood pressure was too high.

"I said to her, 'Well, posing can be quite relaxing, quite meditative. Shall we try and make the drawing and see what happens with that?' And I think about 45 minutes into the drawing when the staff came back to take her blood pressure, she was back down within the treatable range," he said.

"She said to me afterwards, 'you've shown me something; with the diagnosis and the treatments, I've been so stressed out and so worried about everything that I haven't found time to relax and to de-stress from it'."

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Mr Tolhurst said the emotional side of the role "still hits me every now and then".

"I like the portrait to look back at the . Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk

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